impact-of-a-gk-12-program-on-the-development-of-university-students-academic-and-professional-skills

The NSF Graduate Teaching fellows in K-12 Education GK-12 “provides funding to graduate students in NSF- supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics STEM disciplines to

AC 2007-2438: IMPACT OF A GK-12 PROGRAM ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF

UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

Jamie Medoff, University of Maryland-Baltimore County

Mrs Jamie Gurganus is a graduate student in Mechanical Engineering at UMBC As an

undergraduate student, she was involved in the UMBC TEPP program Currently, Jamie serves as the Associate Director for Project Lead the Way and develops curriculum for K-12 engineering

education

Anne Spence, University of Maryland-Baltimore County

ANNE M SPENCE is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at UMBC and holds a

Ph.D in Aerospace Engineering During her ten years as an engineering educator, she has

developed curricula, directed programs to increase the recruitment and retention of women in

engineering, and developed hands on engineering programs designed to foster an interest in

engineering among elementary, middle and high school students She manages a number of NSF

grants related to engineering education

© American Society for Engineering Education, 2007

Impact of a GK-12 program on the development of University students

academic and professional skills

Introduction

In recent years, improving STEM education has particularly been encouraged in the K-12

classroom The benefit of having partnerships between Universities and their local

schools is looked at as a possible positive contributor to enhance STEM education within

the classroom Several outreach programs have been established including a well known

National Science Foundation (NSF) funded program that involves students in college

establishing a relationship with a teacher through a school year by helping them in the

classroom encourage students to excel in STEM education

The NSF Graduate Teaching fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) “provides funding to

graduate students in NSF- supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics

(STEM) disciplines to acquire additional skills that will broadly prepare them for

professional and scientific careers in the 21 st century.” 3

In 2002-2006, The National Science Foundation supported a GK-12 fellows program at

the University of Maryland Baltimore County called the Teaching Enhancement

Partnership Program (TEPP) It was run out of UMBC’s Shirver Center Designed to

improve classroom instruction of mathematics and science in the nation’s primary and

secondary schools, the program placed both graduate and undergraduate science,

technology, engineering and math (STEM) majors in five high-needs middle schools

within the Baltimore Metropolitan Area A project evaluation was designed to assess the

extent to which TEPP met the following National Science Foundation expectations

regarding outcomes.3

1) Improved communication skills and teaching skills for graduate and undergraduate

fellows;

2) Enriched learning by K-12 students;

3) Professional development opportunities for K-12 teachers;

4) Strengthened partnerships between institutions of higher education and local school

districts

The program at the University of Maryland Baltimore County could be compared to other

NSF granted GK-12 programs such as the STOMP program at Tufts university2 Though,

the program distinguished itself from other GK-12 programs through its use of

undergraduates TEPP consisted of 5 graduate and 20 undergraduates’ students enrolled

at the university each year Each graduate student was place in one of the five local high

needs middle schools along with four undergraduates Both the undergraduates and the

graduates were assigned one to two teachers to assist throughout the school year in

implementing activities and serving as resources to curriculum in the STEM fields

The roles and responsibilities of the undergraduates and the graduate students varied

slightly Although both the graduate and undergraduate fellows spent 10 hours in the

classroom, the undergraduates spent additional 5 hours for developing curriculum and

activities, whereas the graduates spent 10 additional hours The graduate fellows were

also required to meet with their assigned undergraduate fellows on a biweekly basis in

discussing activities and plans that they were implementing in the classroom Every

activity was required to be recorded in a specified form and handed in during the meeting

to their graduate fellow These activities were archived with the program coordinator and

made available to all the schools participating in the program

The TEPP program stood on it’s own in how it attracted a large amount of engineers and

computer scientist The College of Engineering and Information Technology (COE&IT)

at the University of Maryland Baltimore County consists of the following engineering

programs to include mechanical, chemical, computer and computer science The

percentage of engineers recruited in each year is seen in Table one below:

Table 1: Percentage of Engineering and Computer Science fellows 2002-2006

*The other fellows in the program were STEM focused including majors in biology,

chemistry, information systems and mathematics.*

Out of the four years of participation, there were a total of 25 engineers and computer

scientist who participated in the program 40% of them were Mechanical Engineers, 17%

were computer science, 13% were chemical engineers, and 6% were computer engineers

Due to the considerable amount of undergraduates, several continued in all three to four

years of TEPP; transitioning from undergraduate to graduate students

TEPP, as well as other GK-12 programs, developed the student’s softer skills to include

“communication, teamwork, leadership….and an ability to apply these skills in

engineering careers.”2 Studies, in recent reports, show that engineers are lacking in

TEPP Year Total Fellows Percentage of

engineering including Mechanical, Chemical, Computer and Computer science.*

several common important skill areas, particularly communication and teaching skills In

a report entitled Education and Careers 2000: Enhanced Skills for engineers, these “soft

skills” were reported as fundamental to industry as the engineering skills taught in

college “The message from industry leaders is that young graduate engineers arriving at

their companies do not possess skills in either the quality or quantity required These

extra skills include written and oral communication…” 1

In a study at the Michigan Technological University, professors were placed in industry

settings for a short time to determine what successful engineers need in the industry As a

result, they found that “engineers need a variety of soft and hard skills.” Included in

these soft skills were teaming/people skills “For effective teaming the engineer must

respect the contributions and points of view of teammates.”5 Along with this, the paper

stated a reiterated the issue of communication skills In this, it was discussed specifically

that a “valuable skill is to explain complex concepts clearly and concisely This paper

shows that the TEPP experience helped develop such a valuable skill

This paper will discuss how the TEPP alumni feel they have developed these skills

through TEPP based on going through the program and there current status in their career

choice as well as how they are actively engaged in K-12 activities today

Methods and Sample

Throughout the three years of the program, surveys were conducted before the school

year and after the school year Since the fourth year of the program was funded on

remaining NSF funds, surveys were not administered but considered in the post study

For the purpose of this study, including certain parts of the TEPP experience while the

fellows were in the program served to show the fellows and their partner teachers

perspectives in how the fellow’s skills were being developed.This study uses The

University of Maryland Baltimore County GK-12 Teaching Enhancement Partnership

Project Final Evaluation report to show the results of the TEPP fellows experience while

serving

Although the study was not specified to engineers, the majority of the years did compose

of engineering fellows as seen in Table 1

The procedures described the final report were broken up into the three consecutive

years, showing minor differences per year The surveys allowed the fellows in some areas

to answer qualitatively and quantitatively The questions in the quantitative group

consisted using a rating scale of very able, somewhat able, not too able, and not at all able

or very true, somewhat true, not too true, not at all true

All the surveys focused on four major groups including the fellow’s skills improvement,

k-12 students’ enriched learning, teacher’s professional development, and strengthen

university-community partnerships For this study, the topic of fellow’s skills

improvement will be evaluated

In year one (Fall 2002 – Spring 2003), four questionnaires were developed to gather

information on participating teachers, fellows and middle school students “Two broad

questions about the influences of TEPP on fellows’ educational experiences and goals

were asked.”

In year two (Fall 2003-Spring 2004), surveys were administered in both semesters “In

the fall, fellows were invited to a lunch hour meeting during which time they were asked

by The Shriver Center’s evaluator to discuss TEPP as a group and to complete the

questionnaire The evaluator and program coordinator also hand-delivered folders

containing a cover letter, questionnaire, and return envelope to teachers’ schools (placed

in individual mail boxes) In the spring the fellows completed their surveys in an “exit

interview” whereas the teachers surveys were administered the same as the fall semester

In year three (Fall 2004-Spring 2005), the questionnaires were delivered both semesters

As in year two, the Shriver center’s evaluator dispense the surveys’ to the TEPP fellows

at a meeting This occurred both semesters The same procedure as in year two for the

teachers occurred in year three

The long-term effects of the program were evaluated using interview and survey

methods Half of the fellows that were reachable through phone were interviewed the

questions whereas the other half were contacted through e-mail The fellows contacted

through e-mail filled out the survey on their own

In creating the post survey, it was discussed and researched the important questions that

would be valid in evaluating an alumni engineering TEPP fellow Since the program

goals were to help develop soft skills, such as teaching and communication, identifying

these skills in accordance to industry and academia became important

Several reports and studies have been issued discussing the need for graduating engineers

to have soft skills as they enter into their job Several of these papers1,4,7 were used, along

with talking to professionals in industry, to create a valid list of skills needed for the work

place In academia, though, very little or no documentation was found discussing

specific skills needed for an engineering professor or a person going into the academic

field To compensate, an interview of graduate students and professors’ took place at the

university to understand what skills are needed for their profession

The survey consisted of 9 questions focusing on how their experience affected them in

their course work during their time with TEPP, future decisions that were made during

their employment with TEPP, what the TEPP alumni are doing today and how TEPP is

integrated into their career choices In the survey, both qualitative and quantitative

questions were asked Below in Table 2 are the questions asked of the TEPP alumni:

Table 2 Post TEPP survey questions

Questions

What was your major while you were in TEPP?

Did TEPP help Formulate your career Path? How?

What is your current stage in you career? (Industry or Academic, neither)

Are you actively involved in any engineering k-12 activities? (If yes, please explain)

Are you interested in getting involved with any future k-12 engineering activities?

Are you interested in becoming a Professor or k-12 teacher in the future? (You may answer

both and elaborate)

Please Indicate Yes (y) or No (n) to whether TEPP helped you in these areas during your

experience You may explain any of these areas

Grades

Study habits

Improvement to basic

science and math skills

Understanding the course

work

Time Management

If you are in Academia (if not continue to question 9) please fill out the chart below on a

scale between 1-5, rating each of these skills in how TEPP helped you develop and

implement these skills today:

1=not true at all 5=very true

Communication Skills

Classroom Management

Teaching Skills

Writing

Lesson Planning

Ethics

Patients

K-12 University and local

districts

Simple Concepts (Math,

Science concepts)

If you are in Industry please fill out the chart below on a scale between 1-5, rating each of

these skills in how TEPP helped you develop and implement these skills today:

1=not true at all 5=very true

Below are what are called “Soft skills” that many companies feel are imperative for an

engineer to have Again you may elaborate in the space

provided below

Communication Skills

Teaching Skills

Writing

Basic Math & Science

Conflict Resolution

Safety

Preparedness & Planning

Research Skills

Management & Direction

Ethics

Organization

Flexibility

All the above questions allowed the TEPP fellows to answer qualitatively

Contacting the TEPP fellows began during the fall 2006 year and continued in the spring

2007 Since fellows started graduating up to 4 years ago, contacting them posed to be a

difficult task Among the 25 engineering graduates, 60% of them were reached through

either e-mail or phone

For further analysis and validity, coursework grades were obtained by a faculty member

of UMBC The purpose of this analysis was to validate how their undeveloped skills were

becoming developed and directly affecting their grades Many engineering classes at

UMBC require the use of soft skills within the classroom Along with this, the idea that

the TEPP fellows were refreshing their basic math and science skills and soft skills could

directly affect their grades as well as help them in their future careers Only the

cumulative average for the year, status of the participation (undergraduate or graduate),

and major were provided Student’s names were not included in any form for

confidentiality purposes

Results

TEPP fellows study: During their experience

The following results in this section were obtain from the The University of Maryland

Baltimore County GK-12 Teaching Enhancement Partnership Project Final Evaluation

In all three years of the program, the survey focused on four key areas:

A) Fellows’ skills improvement

B) K-12 students’ enriched learning

C) Teachers’ professional development

D) Strengthened university-community partnerships

For the purpose of this study, the fellow’s skill improvement section was focused on

because of how it identified with the fellows thoughts on skill development in career

related areas Particularly, how the TEPP program provided Professional Development

opportunity for the future

Year one resulted in the following, that “Ninety percent of fellows felt that participating

in TEPP contributed positively to their educational experience Half of the fellows

reported that participating in TEPP encouraged them to consider teaching math or

science to middle school students as a career.” The report indicated that the main focus

was obtaining students grades and striking their interest in the STEM fields

In year two, the response rate was 67% of the 24 who were participating in the fall

semester In the spring semester, with 23 fellows, the response rate was 100% Of the 23

teachers surveyed, 62% responded to the survey “A majority of fellows felt that with

respect to communication and teaching skills specifically, self- and teacher assessments

reflect “Very” or “Somewhat” able skills In terms of developing job-related skills such

as communication and leadership, 70% of fellows agreed that this was “Very True” of

the TEPP experience Fellows’ abilities in the areas of teaching, communication, and

leadership were rated by themselves and teachers as either “Very Able” or “Somewhat

Able” (with communication skills rated most highly) both in the fall of 2003 and spring of

2004.”

In year three the fellows, fellows had an 89% response rate in the fall and a 95%

response rate in the spring Of the 19 teachers participating in TEPP, 17 mailed their

completed questionnaires to the Program Coordinator during the fall for a response rate

of 89% Thirteen of the 19 teachers mailed their completed surveys in the spring for a

response rate of 68%.”

In the surveys, the responses of the TEPP fellows included the following:

• The majority of fellows (94%) felt that their participation in TEPP helped them

develop job-related skills

• Many fellows (61%) felt that participating in TEPP helped them formulate a

career path

• Most fellows (94%) were confident in the ability to teach science and math to

middle school students as well as teaching inquiry-based science and math (78%)

after participating in TEPP

• All fellows were confident in the ability to communicate with middle school

students and most (94%) were confident in the ability to communicate with middle P

school teachers after participating in TEPP Many (89%) were also confident in

their ability to talk about their own research with people who know little about it

Fellows also expressed an increased awareness of K-12 issues as a result of TEPP

• All fellows reported an increased interest in K-12 education issues after

participating in TEPP

• Fellows’ understanding of various K-12 education issues also increased as a

result of participating in TEPP Most fellows reported a significant to deep

understanding of the following issues after participating in TEPP whereas prior

to TEPP few reported such understanding

The teachers, whom the fellows were paired with, also responded to the fellows ability to

teach and communicate with the students as seen below

• Many teachers rated fellows’ ability to teach science (61.5%) and math (75%)

highly (e.g., somewhat or very able) Relatively fewer teachers viewed fellows’

ability to teach inquiry-based science (46%) and math (67%) highly

• All teachers felt that fellows were either “very” or “somewhat” able to

communicate with middles school students and teachers Sixty one percent of

teachers rated fellows’ ability to talk about their research with people who know

little about it favorably

From this report, it was clear that the fellows and their partner teachers, truly felt they

were able to develop the necessary skills for any future career, especially in teaching and

communicating It is also to note that the fellows indicated developing an understanding

of the need for improvement in the STEM areas in K-12

To validate and build from these results, further evaluation was done recently on the

affects of the TEPP program today

Post TEPP Evaluation

All the TEPP engineering fellows have graduated and are either working in the industry

field or have continued on in pursuing a Masters or PH.D

The fellows who reported (n=15), during their fellowship time, 6% held positions for four

years, 13% held positions for three years, 6% held a position for two and a half years,

20% held a position for two years and 73% held positions for one year

From these fellows, 26% transitioned from undergraduate to a graduate fellowship

position

How TEPP fellows Coursework and Career choices were affected

Fellows were asked if their experience in TEPP helped formulate their career path In

response, 40% of fellows said yes and 60 % answered no Those who transitioned from

an undergraduate fellow to a graduate fellow indicated that TEPP did encourage them to

continue into graduate school

Several qualitative responses from the fellows are included below

No, but it helped me formulate future possibilities TEPP helped me figure out what role I

want to play in industry It helped me see a bigger picture I had one idea about what I

wanted to do, more of research and education As a result, I am interested in a position

that related to research in the industry, which is outside my degree

“I taught for some time after graduation and TEPP was a key factor in helping me

prepare for that.”

“Not directly At that point (last semester senior year), I was still unsure of what path to

take, but was leaning towards continuing for my MS While participating in TEPP didn’t

necessarily redirect me towards teaching, I found it rewarding and felt that it was

potentially worth pursuing later in my life.”

In regards to their course work, fellows were giving a list of items, seen in Table 3,

which during their experience would have had an affect

Table 3: Impact on Fellows Coursework

Understanding the

course work

Improvement to basic

science and math skills

*one fellow was only taking research credits, therefore grades were not applicable*

The TEPP fellows showed a great deal of support towards their experience helping them

with their time management skills Although some failed to answer whether their basic

and math skills benefited from the program, many did indicate it helped refresh their

skills for their coursework

Some of the TEPP fellows, in addition, choose to respond qualitatively:

“At the end of the senior year, TEPP helped you work on your speaking and

communication abilities.”

“TEPP consumed a lot time that could have benefited towards school work.”

“I really don’t feel like TEPP had any influence on my own schooling besides forcing me

to be organized due to the time commitment However, I do feel that TEPP was a good

introduction to the working world and the importance of good communication.”